Trigger For Larger Things To Come?

BACKGROUND

June 2016 will be remembered in posterity for one of the major global event risks materializing – a British referendum to exit the European Union (EU). This result was unexpected by most quarters of the market and there was an immediate negative reaction seemingly driven by sentiments. Since then, developments have been more in line with broader market consensus as policy makers have expressed their willingness to extend full support to the economy. In fact, the Bank of England has already loosened its monetary policy and is probably going to do more in the coming days to avoid any unnecessary collateral damage. The UK government could also go in for a more pragmatic fiscal policy given that the growth of the economy will likely take a hit.

Markets have remained broadly stable and have reacted on expected lines with adequate capital making its way towards safe haven assets. The initial reaction in the markets was of shock and resulted in steep declines in the equity markets and strengthening of the USD. However, since then levels of risk aversion have reduced and equity markets across the globe have done well along with a rise in the price of most sovereign bonds. The biggest negative effect has been felt on the currency markets as the GBP has fallen by around 11% versus the USD. While not completely unanticipated, this does show the investors’ concern over the future of the UK markets.

Still, the true ramifications of BREXIT will take months, if not years to become apparent. While there are a number of possibilities that can play out in the coming months, it is important to take a step back and gauge the impact on the Indian economy through its linkages with the UK and the broader EU economy.

A LOOK AT TRADE

The UK and the EU are both important trading partners for India, and both are committed to enhancing their trade flows in the near future. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, UK-India bilateral trade was valued at USD 14.02 billion in FY16, and EU-India trade (including the UK) was valued at USD 88.56 billion in FY16. Further, exports to the UK and the EU were worth USD 8.83 billion and USD 44.62 billion, whilst imports were worth USD 5.19 billion and USD 43.94 billion, respectively.

Trade between UK-India and EU-India is an area of focus as all parties are striving to increase trade. In fact, trade deals and negotiations were being discussed even before the referendum took place.

The UK used to be India’s third biggest trading partner 15 years ago; today it is its 12th1. Also, the UK is one of seven countries with which India has a trade surplus. Negotiations with the EU are currently being held regarding Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)2, which will likely provide a boost to bilateral trade between nations.

India’s imports from the UK are largely dominated by precious metals and stones, boilers, machinery, and mechanical appliances, iron and steel, and electrical equipment while exports to the UK are led by apparel and clothing accessories, boilers, machinery, and mechanical appliances, precious metals, and vehicles.

READ ALSO  :

• How To Get A Patent For Software In India
• India witnesses Significant Jump in Computer Technology Patent Applications
• Meizu m3s Launched in India: Price, Release Date, Specifications, and More
• Microsoft To Reveal VR Headset Plans In December
• 14 Blogging Mistakes A Blogger Makes And How To Put Them Right

Thane: A 33-year-old man, who allegedly mentored the young kingpin of the over Rs 500-crore Mira Road call center scam, was arrested on Sunday.
Police questioned Jagdish Kanani, a partner in a BPO business in Hari Om Plaza at Mira Road, about the functioning of the telephone scamming cartel. A top police officer confirmed the arrest and said it was a major breakthrough in the case as Kanani is the “creator” of phone frauds and mentor of 23-year-old Sagar Thakkar, alias Shaggy.
“We have information that Kanani is the one who cracked the code of making easy money by misusing technology and playing on the fears of people. He had worked on US processes as a call center employee and was familiar with the operations that involve calling up US citizens and exerting pressure on them to repay their credit card dues,” a police source told TOI. He added that Kanani had made investments in call centers and played a vital role in setting up fake ones across the country different names.
Police claimed Kanani had coached Thakkar on how to con US citizens from India and misuse magicJack devices—they plug into a USB port on the user’s computer and have a standard RJ-11phone jack into which any standard phone can be plugged. “Kanani and Thakkar would pose as tech support callers from legitimate IT software firms and ‘alert’ a victim of a computer virus. They would ‘fix’ the computer and also charge for a maintenance contract,” said the source.
Meanwhile, the crackdown on Mira Road call centers has broken Thakkar’s back as he was planning to set up five-eight offices in Mumbai and Ahmedabad as part of his ‘business expansion plan’. “The cartel had interviewed over 400 job aspirants in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and selected over 100 for the setups Thakkar was to launch in Ahmedabad,” a police officer said. “Thakkar was interested in newly constructed commercial buildings as till the other blocks would be rented or sold, the call center operations would be smooth and no one would know what was going on.”
Police chief Param Bir Singh said, “Such call centers have brought shame to the country…fly-by-night call centers are mushrooming everywhere and there is no governing body to keep a watch on them.”
Investigators believe Thakkar’s sister Reema played a vital role in the scam—she not only aided him but also handled the finances through hawala channels. “We are yet to find trace his sister after which her role in the case would be ascertained,” said a police officer. Police are also making inquiries of the involvement of hawala operatives from Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Police said last year, Thakkar had invited his friend Tapash Gupta to help set up call centers along with Mansuri. Thakkar would also often travel to South Asian countries for pleasure trips.

READ ALSO : 

• Nashik rape case: Internet services resume even as curfew continues
• Sequoia leads $6 million funding in web optimisation provider Zarget
• A Feared Film Blogger, a Dancefloor and a Dark Accusation
• Air India launches a new app for passenger convenience
• Automobile sales continue on their growth path (Intro Roundup)

India’s GDP is a function of its export of Information Technology to the Western world, let us acknowledge it far and loud, for once. There are brilliant codes written, genius software developed, in large numbers, literally every day. Tonnes of money is spent on the research and development of each of this software and hence, there is a major need to safeguard these intellectual properties – yes, they are that! – which drive India’s growth in more ways than one.

In this article, we look at protecting the intellectual rights of a software, a much-underrated entity although it makes for some of the highest copyright infringements.
Computer-related inventions can be really tricky. Firstly, you have to describe the invention very cleanly such that it makes sense and that, let me say, is not an easy job, especially when it relates to computers and software – areas not easily comprehensible to laypersons.

It is still easy to define the functionality that is required by the customer, and if you have the required coding skills, you can even build a programme that fulfills the desired functionality, but – and there is a big but here – the area that has to be protected by a patent lies somewhere in between. It lies midway between the functionality that is desired and the code that is written to achieve it. This makes defining it all very difficult, especially for those who are new to the area of patenting.

Software Patenting
“How to patent a software” is a hot question amongst many tech entrepreneurs in India, and in this day and age, when our country is undergoing a major entrepreneurial boom, we need a convincing answer to that question.

To put it in simple words, a software can be patented in India but it might not always be permitted.

Where Does India Stand On Patenting Software
In India, there was a clause proposed to include software patents way back in 2005 but the honorable Parliament of India rejected it. A common argument given in this regard is that software patenting form for minor inventions. So, as the argument goes, an invention that can be easily and individually replicated by many others should not be granted since it will only work to decelerate the progress of the field concerned.

If you think hard, there is a point there but less so when the country is India, a software giant in its own regard. This is in contrast to countries such as the US, Australia, and even Singapore, which allow the patenting of software innovations within their political boundaries Cloud Light.

Why Does The Indian Patent Office Reject Most Applications?
Section 3(K) of the Indian Patents Act, 1970 reads that “mathematical or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms” do not fall under the category of items that can be patented in India.

Therefore, keeping the law of our land in mind, the Patent Office duly rejects the majority of the applications even though they may be high on innovation, fortunately, or unfortunately.

Is There A Way Around It?
Yes! There is a workaround. If you go through the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure pedantically, it states that not all computer programs fall under the category which cannot be patented in India. Hence, there are some kinds of software that can indeed be patented in India.

How To Safeguard Your Software In India Then?
The trick is not to patent the software program. Instead, try to patent the product in which the software plays an integral part, a very integral part, so much so that the software stands out more than the product itself.

That way, when you are patenting the product, you invariably provide patent protection to the accompanying software program too and you do that in the subtlest of ways, playing according to the rules made by the government.

Since we have discussed in detail about patenting, it is only fair that we look at other means of safeguarding intellectual property too, namely copyright and trademark registration. Do not underestimate them by any means in India.

Copyright For Software
In order to protect software in India, this model of protecting intellectual property is all the more common. What needs to be done then? Simple: register computer software and programs as works of literature according to Section 2(O) of the Copyright Act, 1957. So, a copyright protection makes more sense for safeguarding software in India.

When you are applying for copyright registration at the copyright office, you need to submit the source code along with the duly filled-in application form.

Trademark Registration
In addition to patenting and copyright registration, the trademark registration can also be used to safeguard the brand name of the software.

One software product may have any number of brand names. For example, if a software offers an only one of its kind functionality, say it allows you to “bulk send” pictures, then you can trademark the term “bulk send” so that your competitors are not able to use it.

Even if your competitors do come up with a similar feature, they will have to devise their own term which may not be instantly popular and will definitely not be able to feed off the popularity your term has pre-created. So, there is a small win for you.

Trademark registration is often underrated when it comes to protecting a software, be it in India or in lands where a provision for filing patents for software programs exist.

If the software or the product name is not trademark registered, the competition can make use of the catchy terms built by you and exploit the lack of patent laws concerning software in India.

So, it is necessary to be careful when it comes to software safeguarding. You need to protect the business from legal tangles or get in touch with firms who can help you out. These throw completely different challenges when it comes to safeguarding, in comparison to say protecting a piece of art. The latter is much simpler.

READ ALSO : 

• Breathing new life into India-Russia ties
• India’s Largest Travel Booking Platforms MakeMyTrip, ibibo Merge
• ‘India Exports Software, Pakistan Exports Terror,’ Says PM Modi At BJP Meet:
• You May Soon be Surfing Internet on Long-Haul Air India Flights
• Computer training changed lives of disabled students

New Delhi October 15 (ENA) The computer technology and information technology sectors in India have witnessed a significant growth in research and development activities. This is evident from the increase in the share of computer technology in the total patent applications in India over the years.

Distribution of patent applications across top fields of technology

As the above table shows the share of computer technology has increased from 5.9% in 2010 to 14.3% in 2014. This shows that the boom that the country has witnessed in the information technology has also boosted research and development activities.

India is already a leading player in the international computer software market due to its highly capable manpower in the field. This has also created incentives for research and development activities.

However, the above table also shows that the shares of pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry in the total patent applications have declined. In fact, the increase in the share of computer technology has been at the cost of pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry. Despite this, the pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry are the top two fields with regard to the share in patent applications.

India is a leading producer of generic medicines in the world. In addition to this India is also a source of cheap generic medicines for different diseases to the low-income developing countries. Over the years, India has come under intense pressure by lobbying activities of multinational pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies that sees the generic medicines as a threat to their profit margins.

So, it is important that the country boosts its research and development activities in general and in pharmaceuticals in particular.

Apart from the above discussed three fields, there has not been any significant change in the share of other fields in the total patent applications Darbi.

One thing that should be of concern for the policymakers is that the share of biotechnology has declined. Given the fact that biotechnology is going to be an important field with regard to not only academic research but also with regard to industrial application, the policymakers need to give special attention to this field. (ENA Bureau)

New Delhi October 15 (ENA) The computer technology and information technology sectors in India have witnessed a significant growth in research and development activities. This is evident from the increase in the share of computer technology in the total patent applications in India over the years.

Distribution of patent applications across top fields of technology

As the above table shows the share of computer technology has increased from 5.9% in 2010 to 14.3% in 2014. This shows that the boom that the country has witnessed in the information technology has also boosted research and development activities.

India is already a leading player in the international computer software market due to its highly capable manpower in the field. This has also created incentives for research and development activities.

However, the above table also shows that the shares of pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry in the total patent applications have declined. In fact, the increase in the share of computer technology has been at the cost of pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry. Despite this, the pharmaceuticals and organic fine chemistry are the top two fields with regard to the share in patent applications.

India is a leading producer of generic medicines in the world. In addition to this India is also a source of cheap generic medicines for different diseases to the low-income developing countries. Over the years, India has come under intense pressure by lobbying activities of multinational pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies that sees the generic medicines as a threat to their profit margins.

So, it is important that the country boosts its research and development activities in general and in pharmaceuticals in particular.

Apart from the above discussed three fields, there has not been any significant change in the share of other fields in the total patent applications.

One thing that should be of concern for the policymakers is that the share of biotechnology has declined. Given the fact that biotechnology is going to be an important field with regard to not only academic research but also with regard to industrial application, the policymakers need to give special attention to this field. (ENA Bureau)

READ ALSO  :

• This film set in a beauty parlour in Varanasi deals with India’s skin colour bias
• iPhone Sales Booming in India, Reliance Jio Starts Hurting Airtel, and More
• India overtakes US to become second largest internet market in the world: Broadband Commission
• Meizu m3s Launched in India: Price, Release Date, Specifications, and More
• Unbelievably stunning pictures of real, raw beauty from India and Nepal